Celebrating New Jersey Olympians in Sochi

The snow isn’t the only thing getting into the record books around here lately! If you haven’t been paying attention, the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia are coming to a close this weekend. The team here at Plymouth Rock has been cheering on all 230 members of team U.S.A since the opening ceremonies. Of course we have our favorite athletes, coincidently, they all stem from that great place that we call home, New Jersey!

So sit back and let the Plymouth Rock blog take you live on location to…exactly where you are sitting, while we tell you about who has been representing the home team in Sochi! We can only hope the amenities will be a little better.

James Van Riemsdyk – Middletown – Men’s Hockey – The 24 year old National Hockey League forward was drafted second overall by the other city down the road, Philadelphia, only to be traded to a city and team a little further away, The Toronto Maples Leafs. Now, we can’t fault the Left Winger for being a member of a Canadian team during the NHL regular season, because he is back and playing top minutes for the United States in Russia.

It is easy to root for a player that has admittedly already achieved one of his dreams by just competing in the games. And how many players do you know that have found a glitch in the Matrix, like Riemsdyk did when he tied the Quarterfinal game with this tough goal against the Czech Republic.

John Carlson – Colonia – Men’s Hockey – Here is another NHLer that has found a place on the all New Jersey 2014 Olympic Corps. He was actually born in Massachusetts, but I hope you don’t hold it against him….because I am a New Jersey transplant, too!

This crafty defenseman had the honor of scoring the United States’ first goal of the 2014 tournament. Though he spends his time on the blue-line for the Washington Capitals, this transplanted Jersey boy is no stranger to lighting the lamp; he brought home the Gold in the Juniors in 2010.

Molly Schaus – Voorhees – Women’s Hockey – I can hear the song playing in the background, “…anything you can do I can do better!” and when it comes to hockey, goalie Molly Schaus is proving she is one of the most accomplished athletes to ever crouch between the pipes. A veteran at the age of 25, Schaus has already won Silver in the 2010 Olympics, and medaled four other times in national and international competition. And if you think that she has lost a step since her first Olympic run with U.S.A, take a look at the clinic she put on when she and the Women’s team shut-out Switzerland in the preliminaries.

Unfortunately, her quest for Olympic gold fell short against Canada on Thursday. But another Silver is nothing to scoff at and something tells us she might get another chance for Gold in four years.

Jamie Greubel – Princeton – Women’s Bobsleigh – How many times can you say you have thrown yourself down a human faucet at 90 miles per-hour in a shoe-shaped sled? Well, Jamie Greubel accomplished that very feat in the 2014 games and will be bringing home a bronze medal to commend her meddle. Olympic bobsled has been described as a sport in which you learn as you go, and something tells us that this kind of learning has never been a problem for Greubel, who graduated from Princeton and got a Masters in Education from Cornell University. We, on the other hand, keep wondering what the insurance rates are on a two-person controlled missile where one driver can’t break and the other can’t steer…let’s just assume that it wouldn’t be covered.

Do you know of any future Olympians in your neighborhood! Tell us all about it!